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Fruitful boredom

When Montaigne described his work as essays, he was using the term in a way we use less frequently today—the sense of the word, from the French “essayer”, which translates as “to try.” I love this idea of the essay as a place to explore, to enter without knowing quite what you’ll find. Many of my favorite essays for this series embody this experience of discovery, and I’m happy to add to this list Jared Stanley’s excellent essay, How Twin Peaks Bored Me to Tears. One has, while reading it, a palpable sense that the author is reaching through the ostensible material toward something deeper and more personal, and indeed where he goes with his investigation–an unpacking of childhood experiences of boredom, humiliation, and loss–is truly remarkable. I encourage you to give it a read, live today at Lit Hub.